Return to Canifis

accused him of complicity at the Midsummer Festival, still attired in her green dress. She stared at him in grim silence through the iron bars of her gate.

This will prove to be an interesting evening. I am exhausted, and now I will have to contend with this harridan.

“You should go to see Ebenezer, Theodore,” Gar’rth said. “I would like to, but…”

“I will do so now, and then I will return.” He put his hand on the werewolf’s shoulder. “I won’t be long, my friend.”

Theodore left the prison, and the iron gate was locked behind him. His last view of Gar’rth as he left the dungeon was of him sitting up in his bed, his back against the wall, lit by the soft glow of a flickering torch, his head bent low in deep thought.

Could he really turn on Kara?

It was a question for which he couldn’t find an answer as he headed to Ebenezer’s room.

Ebenezer lay in his bed, his head bandaged, his face pale and his breathing shallow.

At his side, on a stool, sat Doric. The dwarf held the old man’s hand tightly in one of his own while using the other to wipe the alchemist’s face with a damp cloth. Behind him stood Arisha, her head bowed, while Castimir sat on a chair and fidgeted with several runes. Kara was beside him, still dressed in her gown.

“How is he?” Theodore asked after watching them for a long minute. Had it been any other of us we would be awake now, he thought. Perhaps laughing and joking, but not Ebenezer. He is too frail.

Kara shook her head as Doric looked toward him, his face drawn with worry.

“His blood still flows, and he breathes still,” the dwarf said. “But at his age…”

Castimir ran his hand through his hair as he bit his lip. Theodore recognised his friend’s frustration.

“Guthix offers him no aid,” Arisha said sorrowfully. “I fear the alchemist’s atheism is known to Him.”

I fear you are right, Arisha, the knight mused. I was always uncomfortable with Ebenezer’s attitude toward the gods. Now, when he needs them most, will they answer? He jumped as Castimir cried out angrily.

“There is nothing any of us can do!” He lurched to his feet. “My magic is worthless here!” The wizard hurled his runes to the floor, where they clattered loudly across the flagstones.

“Castimir,” Arisha said severely. “What does that accomplish?”

“I’m sorry,” the wizard replied. “I am. It’s just it…” He breathed deeply. “It’s Aubury. He said my actions in protecting Gar’rth from Captain Rovin might end in my expulsion from the Wizards’ Tower. And now this-he may never awaken-everything I do seems to go wrong.”

“We all have our problems,” Arisha said. “But I think we should put them aside for tonight. We all owe our lives to Ebenezer. If it hadn’t been for him, none of us would ever have escaped the monastery. Let us not trouble his dreams with our own burdens.”

A brief silence fell. Castimir knelt to retrieve his runes, while Kara nodded and Doric returned Ebenezer’s hand to the bed and wiped his head once more with the damp cloth before returning it to a bucket at his feet.

“Have Sally and Albertus been informed of Ebenezer’s injuries?” Theodore asked as he advanced to the bed.

“A messenger has been sent,” Doric replied as he knelt to retrieve one of Castimir’s precious runes. “They have been asked to come here tonight to keep him company. But what of Gar’rth?”

Theodore felt all eyes turn upon him.

“He is in the dungeon. He accepts his situation, and is being held in as comfortable conditions as we could hope for. I will return to him after I leave here.”

“What do you think the King will decide?” Kara asked. “Will he really want to have him put to death?”

“It would be foolish for him to decide so,” Doric said gruffly. “Gar’rth is the nearest anyone’s come to catching the Wyrd. Killing him would solve nothing.”

Tell that to Lord Despaard, Theodore responded silently.

“He would be within his rights to do so,” he said instead, warily.

“What?” Kara stood, nearly toppling her chair. “Theodore, you almost sound as if you agree with him.” Her voice rose to close to a shout.

“Of course I don’t!” he answered quickly. “But this is Varrock, not The Wilderness. You’ve seen what the servants of Drakan do here. The horrors that cross the river from Morytania, despite the barrier. Can you blame people for being so fearful?”

The door opened before anyone could reply. It was Father Lawrence, and his face was red. The elderly priest gave a sharp breath as he entered.

“I have just come from my church,” he wheezed as he approached the bed. “And I have brought what help I may.” He held up a bag for their inspection and as he opened it Theodore caught the strong scent of herbs. Father Lawrence set a gnarled pale root upon the bed and then peered into his bag again. When he withdrew his hand the second time, the knight saw that he held a green leaf with a toothed edge.

“A limpwurt root, and a tarromin leaf,” Kara said, and the Father nodded.

“It is, although the leaf is a little grimy, I am afraid.”

The priest dipped his fingers into the jug at Doric’s feet and cleaned the leaf between his thumb and forefinger.

“Now I will need a vial of clean water and-”

“A knife to cut the limpwurt root. I find that the tenderest parts of the root work best,” Arisha said as she moved to the priest’s side.

He looked at her with an expression of surprise.

“You know your herbs, young lady,” Father Lawrence said as the two set to work.

Theodore, however, shared Doric’s look of slight bewilderment.

“They are making a potion for Ebenezer,” Kara explained. “Tarromin and limpwurt can revitalise an exhausted man.”

“But too much can be fatal,” Father Lawrence cautioned. “Too much of the limpwurt root can cause the person’s heart to fail. It all depends on our patient. Ebenezer is elderly, so I’ll only give him a little to start with.”

“Very well,” Theodore said, and he turned to leave. “Good luck. Let me know if there is any change in his condition. But for now, I must return to Gar’rth.”

The knight took his leave and made his way once more into the dungeons of the palace.

When the gate was locked behind him, he saw that Gar’rth had fallen asleep. The shackle that was still clasped about his wrist showed that the guards were not taking any chances.

There is so much I would ask you, now we are alone. About your history, about your people beyond the river and why you ran.

About Jerrod.

But mostly I would wish to know about Kara. You spent so long with her in The Wilderness…

It was only when he removed his boots and sat on his bed did he notice a man, a vague shadow just beyond the range of the torchlight, peer through the gate.

I wish I had Kara’s vision. She would see him with ease.

“Who are you?” Theodore asked quietly, so as to not disturb his friend.

“I am here by Lord Despaard’s order,” the man said. “To keep an eye on your friend.” He drew a dagger, and in the torchlight Theodore could see its two blades glint.

“He won’t be any trouble,” the knight replied.

The man laughed.

“You are right,” he said. “He won’t be. Not if he’s wise. You should know, Knight of Falador, that it is most likely that he will be sentenced to death. No matter what the judgement, he will not be allowed to remain at large.”

With that, the man took a seat on a low stool and stretched his legs out.

“Are you of the Society of the Owl?” Theodore asked, forcing himself to remain calm. But the man didn’t answer. Instead, it was Ellamaria-in the opposite cell-who spoke.